Installing from an MSI (Windows Installer) Setup Package

This topic describes how to install Merge for Windows from an MSI (Windows Installer) setup package downloaded from the Araxis website. Merge can also be installed using WinGet. The difference between the two installation methods is purely one of convenience.

Before installation:

  1. Please check the system requirements in the Release Notes on the Araxis website to ensure that your system is compatible with Araxis Merge. Any operating system updates that may be required for your system are mentioned on that page.

  2. Ensure that your serial number’s support expiry date is after the build date of the version of Merge that you are installing. For more information about serial numbers and support expiry dates, please see Understanding Serial Numbers, Support Expiry & Upgrade/Support Entitlement.

  3. If you haven’t already done so, download the Araxis Merge .msi Windows Installer setup package from the Download Araxis Merge page. Older versions of Merge are generally available from the Release Notes page on the Araxis website.

Installing Merge interactively (Windows administrator privilege required)

Double-click on the downloaded .msi Windows Installer setup package and follow the on-screen instructions. Installation is straightforward, and follows exactly the same process as many other Windows software packages.

If you encounter any problems, please see Troubleshooting Installation.

Installing Merge without Windows administrator privilege

Using the command-line, it is possible to install newer versions of Merge (2014.4502 and later) for a specific user without using administrator privileges, thus avoiding the Windows User Account Control (UAC) dialog that appears during a normal interactive installation. Please see the If you do not have administrator privilege instructions below for further details.

Automating installation

Installing Merge from the command-line

The Windows msiexec utility can be used to install Merge from the command-line. The procedure differs depending on whether or not you have Windows administrator privilege.

If you have administrator privilege

If you have Windows administrator privileges, run the following command in a command prompt to install Merge, substituting the path to the Merge .msi setup package as appropriate:

msiexec /qb /i C:\Path\To\Setup\Package\Merge2024.6002-x64.msi

To install to a particular directory, set the TARGETDIR property. For example:

msiexec TARGETDIR=C:\Target\Directory /qb /i C:\Path\To\Setup\Package\Merge2024.6002-x64.msi

In both cases:

  • The /qb argument to msiexec means ‘quick, basic UI’, and performs a quiet, non-interactive install without displaying the usual setup wizard.

  • The /i argument introduces the .msi package filename.

  • The msiexec command supports a number of other options. Help is available by invoking it with the /? argument.

  • If you run the msiexec command as an administrator (e.g. from a command-prompt opened with Run as administrator), you will not be prompted with the Windows User Account Control (UAC) confirmation dialog.

If you do not have administrator privilege

Information When installed without administrator privilege, Merge setup restricts itself to the user-specific area of the Windows Registry (HKEY_CURRENT_USER).

To install Merge without using administrator privilege, run the following command in a command prompt, substituting the path to the Merge .msi setup package as appropriate:

msiexec ALLUSERS=2 MSIINSTALLPERUSER=1 /qb /i C:\Path\To\Setup\Package\Merge2024.6002-x64.msi

Other arguments to msiexec may be supplied, as described in the previous section.

Pre-populating the Windows Registry with a serial number and the licensed user

Rather than requiring each user to enter a serial number into Merge when it is run for the first time, it is possible to pre-populate the serial number and licensed user directly into the Windows Registry. This can be particularly useful when installing Merge on multiple machines.

For a particular Windows user account, the serial number can be added to the Windows Registry as the SerialNumber string (REG_SZ) value, under the key:

HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Araxis\Merge\7.1

You will need to create this Registry key if it does not already exist.

If you would like to make Merge work with all user accounts on a particular machine, you can instead pre-populate the SerialNumber string value under the key:

HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\Software\Araxis\Merge\7.1

Again, you will need to create this Registry key if it does not already exist.

You may also wish to pre-populate the Windows Registry with the LicensedUser string value, alongside SerialNumber. If present, the LicensedUser string is used to provide the Registered to information in the Merge About dialog.

Information When installing on multiple machines, you may wish to provide your organization’s name as the LicensedUser.